Toto Wolff has outlined what Mercedes ‘absolutely must avoid’ after Kimi Antonelli’s maiden F1 win

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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff watched on in delight as Kimi Antonelli claimed his first Formula 1 win at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Becoming the youngest driver in history to grab pole position, the Italian drove to victory in Shanghai ahead of teammate George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, the man who he replaced at Mercedes in 2025.

Wolff described the Chinese GP as a career highlight as he watched his two drivers and his former driver Hamilton – who he won six titles with – stand on the podium. He was delighted Antonelli won the race, but he wants to keep his protege level-headed.

Kimi Antonelli’s win in Shanghai makes him the second youngest Grand Prix winner in F1 history. Will Max Verstappen’s record ever be broken?!

Let us know in the comments below!

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Mercedes have worked hard with the 19-year-old behind the scenes after inconsistency and rookie errors hampered him in 2025. Those mistakes were still appearing at the Chinese Grand Prix, as Antonelli locked the front tyres down the back straight and ran wide with three laps to go.

Wolff told Antonelli to ‘stop with this nonsense’ and bring the car home for victory, which he eventually did. He now sits four points behind Russell in the standings, but the Austrian is not getting carried away.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Mercedes F1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Toto Wolff says Mercedes cannot put too much pressure on Kimi Antonelli

Wolff spoke with journalist Ronald Vording after the race in China. He expressed delight over the victory, more so because it silenced critics who felt that Antonelli was moved to F1, specifically Mercedes, too soon.

Rumours suggested that Antonelli would be loaned to another team in 2026 as Wolff pursued a deal for Max Verstappen, but nothing materialised. Mercedes stuck with the Italian, and his win in Shanghai justified the decision.

However, now that he has a victory under his belt, Wolff is refusing to let Antonelli fall under too much pressure. He is tipped to be in the hunt for the title, but the team principal will not let people sensationalise his young driver.

Vording said via Motorsport.com Nederland: “But it was also quite an emotional moment for Toto Wolff, whom I spoke to afterwards.

“Well, you could already hear a bit of that, of course, on the radio, which he later joked about, saying, ‘Yeah, that was also a bit of a way to get one over on certain people.’

“Some people who were critical of Kimi last year and said: ‘Yeah, it’s all too soon’ and Mercedes shouldn’t have let him race for the works team in the first place, and he said: ‘Yeah, now we can get a bit of our own back.’

A slam dunk from Kimi Antonelli, adding the fastest lap to his pole position and Grand Prix victory in China! ⏱️

Where does this rank in the list of the best maiden Grand Prix victories? 🤔

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“Well, that’s exactly what he did. He was, of course, very full of praise for Kimi, but he immediately added: “We do need to keep a level head and keep both feet on the ground.”

“The funny thing was that there were also some Italian, er, journalists at that media session, and then Toto looked at them and said: ‘Yes, I already know what the headlines in Italy will be tomorrow. It’ll all be ‘Grande Kimi, Kimi World Champion’.

“He said: ‘Well, that’s exactly what we don’t want.’ He said: ‘We absolutely must avoid that hype.’ He said: ‘Formula 1 is a rather depressing world. If you crash the car into the wall in Japan in two weeks’ time, everyone will have forgotten what happened here in China.”